What's up with that?
by Trialmixx
Summary: Mao Tomoe struggles with expressing emotion and her best friend, Suzuka Morino, struggles with expressing TOO MUCH emotion. One day due to pretty normal circumstances they meet and talk with the host club during their school lunch hour. From there it's all craziness and fun!
1. Chapter 1

It all started one day when Suzy, my best and closest friend, and I were eating lunch. The day felt long and it was getting unbearably hot, so she and I decided it was a good idea to sit in the air conditioned lunch room rather than where we normally sat outside. We picked a pretty long ornate table and placed our bentos in front of us. Suzy then slapped her hands down on the table and began swinging her legs back and forth. Consequently that meant she was hitting me in the shins, her long legs reaching all the way across to my short ones. I could see the curls in her short light brown hair bounce as she rocked slightly with the movement of her legs.

Suzy is a girl with a big heart that means well, but she often gets over zealous and makes the situation worse. She has a long line of suitors who see her fault as a cute trait, along with her wide hazel eyes that make her seem innocent.

She looks at me with excitement nearly bubbling over and exclaims "There are so many people here Maorin! Why can't we eat here everyday?" That's my nickname, my real name is Mao Tomoe, while I call her Suzy and her real name is Suzuka Morino. We've been friends since before I can remember.

"Because the crowds make me uncomfortable Suzy." She pouts at my monotone response but perks back up and smiles at me fondly.

"That's ok Maorin! It doesn't matter where we go as long as I can hang out with you." I smile shyly at her and she beams in response. I don't smile often, but Suzy's excitement makes it hard for me to stay stoic for too long.

"Your smile is too precious!" She exclaims reaching across the table and grabbing my cheeks. I sigh and resign myself to the torture. I pull away when I see a large group of people watching from afar. It's a group of boys watching and discussing amongst themselves, it looks like it's a serious discussion and they're all looking at us. I shrug to myself, trying to brush off the anxiety and open my bento as Suzy laments the fact that I won't let her play with my face anymore. She soon recovers and opens her bento and begins eating with gusto. She's always been a big eater, since she does sports.

As soon as we both start eating our lunch and conversing I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look up to see the likes of my classmate Takashi Morinozuka staring down at me. I feel my stomach drop and my hands begin to shake slightly, my anxiety skyrockets and Ifeel my palms sweat. I know though, from the outside looking in I look as bored as ever.

I look across the wide table at Suzy and she's got Mitsukuni Haninozuka hanging off her arm and talking her ear off; not that she minds, she's talking back with equal fervor her accent making her words slur as she falls back into her old Osakan speech patterns.

"Ah hello Morinozuka- san." I say and he nods his head at me. Somehow I feel like we're in the way of something. With him and Haninozuka-san coming and stopping us, as well as the group behind him.

"Are we sitting at your table perhaps?" I ask in polite monotone while turning my head back to the group of boys who seem to be taking cover behind a pillar. They're not that sneaky, but they make me feel uncomfortable.

He looks down at me and nods and I just nod back in reply. I start to gather my things and put my bento back together. I look at Suzy. "Well I guess we're being escorted off the premises Suzy-q, we should be on our way." I say while discreetly wiping my palms on the soft, pale yellow fabric of our school uniforms.

Haninozuka-san quickly looks my way at the mention of leaving and at least has the decency to look ashamed but quickly recovers and looks at Suzy.

"Waah! Suzu-chan you let Mao-chan call you Suzy?" He asks "That's so cute!" He exclaims. Right as he says that I can see Suzuka's eyes light up and her face melt.

"I know Hunny- san! Isn't Maorin the cutest thing you've ever seen? She gave me that nickname when she used to come play at my house in the summer!" She nearly yells as her grin breaks into a full blown smile. "She's so shy! But she hides it behind her cold demeanor, it's one of her moe points if I do say so myself." Suzuka says crossing her arms over her chest and smiling like a proud parent.

I look at her and give her a sharp look "We should go now Suzuka." I hope the sternness covers up my embarrassment as she reveals silly things to the "prettiest" boys in our class.

"Waaaaah she's mad!" Suzy jokes as she uses her hands to hide her devilish smile. Hunny and Mori moved to stand side by side as they watch our antics, Hunny with an excited look in his eyes and Mori with his usual cool look. I was too busy fuming with Suzuka to see Hunny approach again until he announced his presence.

"Why don't you guys sit with us today?" Hunny suggested. I look at him over the rim of my glasses so I can get a better look at his face. I don't see well in front of my face, but I can see for a country mile beyond a certain point. I study him for a second, weighing the pros and cons of sitting with their group. I then look to Suzuka who looks like she's dying to spend time with these boys. I wait silently for a minute, moving my gaze back to my hands in my lap before Suzy speaks up for me.

"We'd love to!" She exclaims wiggling back and forth in her seat, her enthusiasm oozing from every pore.

"Hurray!" Haninozuka-san yells as he jumps in a circle. Once he's facing the pillar he cups his hands around his mouth and yells. "Tama-chan it's ok to come over! Mao-chan and Suzu-chan are gonna eat with us!" Mao-chan and Suzu-chan? I think as he refers to us in such a familiar way.

With that the floodgates let loose and the Host club rushed over and took seats, though they seemed to be pretty cautious about sitting around Suzy and I. It isn't until Haruhi sits next to Suzy and she smiles so bright that it could put the sun to shame and says.

"Wow! I get to meet one of my kouhai! It's nice to meet you I'm Suzuka Morino." And holds out one of her hands for Haruhi to shake. The young androgyn takes the hand offered to him hesitantly and shakes it.

"I'm Haruhi Fujioka, ah it's nice to meet you Morino-senpai." The boy says politely before adding a bow in for good measure.

"Woooah! What good manners you have, I mean kids these days always call me old and a monster freak." Suzy says scratching her neck and laughing. Her younger siblings are at a rebellious stage and don't like following her instructions. Therefore they're always calling her names.

Haruhi looks at her surprised and opens her mouth to ask why and I interrupt the boy. "It's 'cause she's tall and has an accent." I state simply and he snaps his mouth shut and nods.

"You don't look that tall, Senpai. " he offers kindly and Suzy laughs.

"It's ok Haruhi-kun! I'm tall, I've got long legs!" She cheers "I'm 183 centimeters, the tallest girl on my basketball team." She boasts.

The twins pipe up from the other side of Haruhi. "You'd make a great model Senpai." One says "But you probably have calves that are way too muscle-y. Quit the basketball club so you have a chance." The other adds as they lean over their meals. Haruhi glares at them and Suzy laughs.

"I do enough stuff like that, I swear!" She says holding up her hands. I think back to a few weekends ago when she was being worshipped at the Lolita meetup we went to in Harajuku. I'm brought out of my reverie by Haninozuka-san who asks me what club I'm in.

"I'm in the light music club." I say quietly. Being around all these people makes me nervous and I barely have the courage to speak at all.

"Huh?" Haninozuka-san asks and I can hear Suzy snickering from across the table. I try to kick her but end up nailing Haruhi-kun in the shin. My eyes widen and I reach across the table and take his hand out of reflex.

" I'm so sorry Haruhi-kun I didn't mean to kick you." I say, but no matter what I do the situation makes it difficult for me to raise the tone in my voice above a monotone. Haruhi looks surprised at the action and I quickly remove my hand feeling embarrassed. I wrong them nervously and look around a lite but before shifting my gaze back to him.

Haruhi looks at me with eyes that seemed to be made of honey and says that it's ok.

"I mean I get bullied by this club all the time, what's one more bruise." He says nearly laughing. I look at him in shock and the blonde across from him that everyone in the school knows is Tamaki Suoh, the son of the chairman, yelps and jumps to the clubs defense.

"We don't bully Haruhi! I swear we just love him a lot." Tamaki says and trails off slightly getting embarrassed at the end of his short rant.

The twins begin to snicker and pick on him while he goes into a state of depression. Haninozuka- san turns back to me and asks what club I'm in again. I feel a little more at ease now that Haruhi hasn't damned me for the rest of eternity. Plus this club seems like just a big group of goofs.

"I'm in the light music club." I say, my voice still in a monotone, but louder so people can hear.

"She doesn't look like she would, but Maorin plays the drums!" Suzy said to answer the unanswered question.

The look of Mao in Classic "Kiss" makeup flashed through everyone's heads at that time and the Twins burst out laughing. I could feel my face heating up and I put down my chopsticks and put my hands in my lap, looking anywhere but at the people at the table.

"Can it you two! Maorin is the best in the world when it comes to playing drums, and her stage outfits are the cutest. Her dresses are always a hit at performances." Suzy says hotly. The twins stop laughing at the mention of dresses. But only pick up again still thinking of the makeup.

I feel the heat build from behind my eyes and I take off my glasses and rub at them before standing up abruptly " I have things to attend to. Have a good day. " and take my leave as fast as possible without breaking into a run. I vaguely hear Suzy yelling at the twins and picking up my stuff and her stuff and walking after me. I feel so embarrassed I shouldn't be so upset, but I am.


	2. Chapter 2

"Guys you shouldn't be so mean to Mao-chan!" Hunny huffs as the twins sober up when Haruhi hits them both over the head.

"But Hunny-Senpai, she wears Kiss makeup with dresses!" They say in unison Hikaru huffing at the end of the phrase. Haruhi muttering 'kiss' in the background confusedly.

"She's a model who provides dresses for her club. She's well known in the Lolita world for being the face of the brand "Baby the Stars Shine Bright"'s petite series." Kyoya pipes up from the other side of Mori. The twins stop their jesting at the name of the brand.

"You mean she's into street fashion?" They ask, their curiosity peaked. As future fashion designers they tried to take an interest in all forms of fashion, though their interest lies with high end fashion.

"She's the only daughter to the owner of one of the biggest tea importers and exporters in the country. She took up modeling for Baby The Stars Shine Bright in her first year of highschool. Since then she's worked and become the cover girl of the petite series of clothing while her friend does amateur photos shoots with her from time to time." Kyoya finishes closing his book.

"So they're both models!" Hunny exclaims putting his little hands on his cheeks and squishing them together.

"So that's what Morino-Senpai meant by 'I do enough of that stuff'" Haruhi says with her hand open, and her fist meeting it with a muted "slap".

The twins blanch at the thought of alienating a fellow fashion expert but recover quickly by shrugging and laughing it off.

"You foul heathens!" Tamaki finally erupts. "You shouldn't have treated her that way in the first place, every girl deserves nothing less than to be treated like a princess." He declares. "And you!" He practically shouts while pointing at the twins. "You devil twins have stomped all over her precious hobby! Apologize!" He declares boldly.

The twins bristle at the accusation. "Why do we have to apologize! She's the one with the weird hobby!" They fire back in unison. Tamaki falters a little bit and Hunny speaks up.

"That's something Mao-chan holds dear! She must be doubting herself now. Poor Mao-chan." Hunny says sadly, tears welling in his eyes. Mori reaches over and pats Hunny on the head. "Hika- chan and Kao-chan should apologize. " he says miserably as a tear slides down his cheek.

"We will not be apologizing to anyone!" Hikaru fumes as Kaoru sits silently by his side.

"Well then we'll go on your behalf!" Tamaki declares. "We'll take a quick trip to the light music club this afternoon." He says getting up

The twins begin to protest but Haruhi shuts them down quickly. Hunny smiles brightly at Tamaki, telling him how good his plan sounded, even though he had class with Mao and Suzuka.

Later that afternoon the Host club stood outside of a music room door that was not their own. They could hear instruments being tuned and a girl was doing a mic check coming from inside the room. They hear a few beats on a drum and instantly think of Mao, and soon a song starts.

It's a soft and sweet melody at first and then begins to speed up into a nice pop tune. The girls voice comes over a speaker and at the chorus a soft voice echos her, but soon the song comes to and abrupt halt when they hear a mixup on the keyboard.

There's a frustrated groan and a sudden bang. The host club opens the doors to find the keyboardist had knocked over his instrument and was sitting on the floor surrounded by his sheet music. What surprised them even more was that Mao was on the floor with him, rubbing circles into his back.

Haruhi was the first to speak gaining the attention of all 6 members of the light music club. "Can we borrow Tomoe-Senpai?" They asked, not taking note of the tense atmosphere. The club gulped at Haruhis' blunt nature and lack of feeling for the atmosphere.

Mao looked up at them and stared for a second before whispering to her band mate. He, in turn, waved her on and she stood up before saying to them "Please leave." She said in her quiet deadpan. The club jumped and they began to scurry about as Hikaru let out an indignant yell.

"We're here to apologize and you're kicking us out?!" He yells as the entire club starts to move in a frantic mass. Kaoru tries to shush his brother as he rants on about her being a weirdo with a freaky hobby.

Mao looks at them, her expression not changing as she lets out a deep sigh. She takes a step toward them and motions for them to move out of the room. The girl in front of the mic moves in front of Mao as she steps forward.

"What do you guys want from Mao-tan?" The girl asks her hands on her wide hips. "You're the ones who made her cry aren't you?" She asks piecing together the situation bit by bit.

"We didn't make her cry she just doesn't have thick skin!" One of the twins reply. "She made herself cry..." He finishes huffing like a small child and crossing his arms. She had just seemed like she was in a hurry when she left the table, they didn't know they'd made her cry. They thought she'd be mad at the most.

The expression on the singers face changes in an instant and it falls into a dark expression.

"Why I oughtta," she starts but before she can step forward and cause a commotion Mao grabs on of her arms in her small hands.

"Wait, please Kari-san, it's ok. Really, you stay here and comfort Tohru-san. He's the one who needs it." Mao pleads quietly.

Her small voice seems to break through the commotion of the room and it falls silent. The girl named Kari stops suddenly and looks over her shoulder at her band mate on the ground with his head in his hands. She then looks back to Mao and pats her head smiling softly.

"You always keep such a level head Mao-tan, I'd be lost without you." She says moving out of the way of Mao. In turn Mao let go of her arm and stepped forward,

"Please leave the room, the music room isn't really the place for this." Mao says, elaborating so there wasn't another misunderstanding.

In the back Hikarus' face lights up a bright red and he huffs and leaves first, followed by the rest of the club.

Outside of the light music club room the host club waits anxiously, with exception on Haruhi who seems to just be waiting patiently. Mao appears in the doorway and slides out from the room, closing the door behind her.

She looks at the club and waits patiently for what they have to say. After a minute of them sitting and fidgeting anxiously she speaks up to clarify, but before she can says word Tamaki bursts.

"Mao-Senpai on behalf of those devil twins I'm truly sorry for our behavior this afternoon!" He cries, flying forward and bowing down low in a western bow before the petite brunette.

"It's really none of our business if you dress in stage makeup for your band, it takes confidence to do that; you must be a strong soul!" He exclaims his head lifting to look at Mao.

She blinks in surprise at her underclassman and bows back.

"No I'm sorry I lost my temper. It wasn't very becoming of me." She says softly as she rises from her bow.

She intertwines her hands and wrings them nervously, her eyes bouncing from member to member of the host club. Most of them looked sincerely apologetic, with the exception of One of the twins.

"Our keyboardist is recovering from a hand injury. His physical therapy is going slowly so he gets frustrated." Mao says softly.

"So that's why you were comforting him!" Hunny says loudly coming forward to stand closer to Mao. She nods and let's her hands fall to her sides as she bunches the skirt of her uniform in her small fists. Her skirt falls into a nice a-line because she uses one of her favorite petticoats to make it poof just right. It looks full compared to the flat and motionless form of most of the skirts at school. She looks down and then looks back up at the club her eyes burning with determination as the rest of her face stays emotionless. She stares right at Hikaru and speaks as confidently as she could.

"But even if we are not at peak performance, I'd like to invite you to stay and watch our performance. I apologize if that's too selfish of me to ask."

The club looks at her in surprise and Hunny just about tackles Mao, she was sure she'd be on the ground if it wasn't for Mori who came just in time to catch his cousin by the midsection and lift him up and onto his shoulders.

They follow her back into her club room and she pulls out some chairs for them to sit with the help of Kari and one other band mate. Mao goes back and sits at her drums, she put on her feet on the peddles and feels her petticoat settle neatly between her legs. She watches as Kari gives the host club a motion that's says "I'm watching you" and moves back to the mic. The three guitarists put the straps back on their shoulders and Tohru makes sure his music is in order. Once everyone gives Mao the thumbs up she counts the band in.

"One two, one, two, three, four!" And she begins to drum softly at first and as the song goes on the beat picks up and she can feel the sweat begin to drop down her face and when the song finishes she lets out a sigh and reaches for her towel.

The host club is silent for a minute and Kari declares loudly into the mic "We don't wear Kiss makeup." And she moves to the back room to get a water bottle.

The host club then begins to clap and they get up and gather around Mao when she leaves her drum set.

She begins to feel claustrophobic very quickly and holds her sweaty towel to her chest while the people around her try and compliment her all at once. She tries to look for her other band mates and they're nowhere to be seen. Suddenly the wall of people opens up and an angel bursts through.

"Everybody stop crowding Maorin! She gets nervous." Suzy says pushing a few host club members out of the way.

"But!-" Tamaki begins, trying to move closer to Mao with arms outstretched. But Suzy is in front of him suddenly, her back to him as she boxes him out aggressively. Her arms are out to her sides and her knees and back are bent as she walks backward into him. He stumbles backward and squawks about how unladylike it was for her to shove her rear ended at him. But as soon as he's far enough away Suzy rushes forward to Mao and takes her hand.

"Kari texted me, I rushed as fast as I could. Is everything alright?" She asks and Mao leans up as Suzuka leans down and lets Mao whisper in her ear.

"Aaah, I see! Well that's good." She says loudly. She turns to the host club and puts one hand on her hip.

"There's good news for you guys." Suzy says standing up at her full height, her wild curly hair pulled back in a headband as she had not yet changed out of her basketball uniform. She had a firm hold on Mao's hand still as she spoke.

"Maorin says she's not bothered by you guys laughing at her anymore. But if I hear you do it I swear those moments will be your last. Ya got me?" She asks sizing up the club. The only ones who didn't seem intimidated were Mori and Kyoya.

Suddenly though Hunny snapped out of it and ran right up to Suzy and jumps for joy.

"Yaaaay! Suzu-chan and Mao-chan forgave us!" He yells running around the pair like a May-pole.

He stops suddenly and pulls on Suzuka's shorts and she looks down at home smiling as wide as she ever does.

"Suzy-chan you're still in uniform, it's so cool!" He exclaims throwing his bunbun into the air. Sadly the bunny you is left to fall to the ground as Mori comes and puts Hunny on his shoulders as he stares down the tall girl in front of him. Suzy just smiles brightly at him, her cheeks still red from running all the way here from the gym.

"How are you this afternoon Morinozuka-san? Did Maorin play for you guys?" She asks proudly.

Mori just nods and Suzy cheers and begins to talk about how great the band is.

Mao lets go of Suzy's hand and bends down to pick up the stuffed animal that's been forgotten on the ground. She dusts him off and looks him over before she approaches Mori and Hunny. She looks the bunny in the eyes before craning her neck to look up at Hunny whilst he sit on his perch.

She reaches up and stands on her tip toes straining to reach Hunny, he notices and reaches out as well and they're just a half a foot short of reaching each other.

But Suzy takes notice and picks Mao up with both hands by the waist and lifts her up to face level with Hunny.

"He looked sad on the ground." She says softly handing him over

"Thank you so much! Bunbun really appreciates it!" He says happily smiling at Mao.

Mao taps Suzy's hands and is let down to the ground.

The host club in the background is amazed at the interaction.

"Two giants interacting is strange." Haruhi says and the group nods in agreement.

It's then that Kari comes back out from the back room and tells the host club to scram. Suzy and Mao wave good bye as they leave. The club is still awestruck, watching Mori and Hunny stride down the hallway and talk aimlessly about the performance.

This sure was weird.


	3. Chapter 3

Weeks went by and the host club went back to normal, no one even remembered that the light music club existed. Mao was ok with that, she liked it when they went to a show and the people who came were surprised at how well they played. Plus school was really only a way for them to practice, they played more live venues outside of school anyway.

The only person who still talked to Mao from the host club was Haninozuka Mitsukuni- San. He'd come up to her before class started and show her how Bunbun was doing and he'd ramble off what the host club was doing that week. She'd always listen politely and nod her head at the right times to let him know she was listening.

Honestly the host clubs adventures always sounded fun. They were always doing something fun and often times pretty crazy. But other times it was a rather mundane place to be from what Hunny explains.

Suzuka wasn't in Hunny or Mao's class, but he'd ask how she was doing and if she had any matches coming up. Suzy was in class 3-b so she was just down the hallway, but they never really talked in the morning. Suzy was always too sleepy to actually hold a conversation, it was lucky for her that she only had conversational French in the morning, she could easily pass because she was already fluent.

This morning Mao walked in with a dress bag on her shoulder and she put it down next to her table, making sure it was folded and not crinkled on the floor. She rested her school bag on top of it to make sure no one stepped on it. It was absolutely crucial to the rest of her afternoon that she didn't let anything happen to these dresses, she needs them for a shoot this afternoon. It's an amateur shoot she's going to be doing with Suzuka and she brought dresses from her personal collection at home. All the accessories, clips, necklaces and headbands were also stored in this bag so she had to keep a watchful eye on it.

It was still early in the morning, there weren't many students around, but people didn't tend to talk to Mao anyway, she was kind of quiet. She sat at her seat in the middle of the class with her elbow rested on the table and her chin in her hand. She thought idly about the weather outside and how nice it would be to go to the beach soon. The weather was getting warmer and the summer was approaching and Mao lived to be on the beach. She and Suzuka would take multiple trips over their summer break to the beach and just enjoy the sun and the waves. Though usually it ended with Mao getting incredibly sunburnt since she's so fair. Suzy is lucky she only gets tan when she goes out into the sun, but she often is really tan in the summer because of her basket ball camps and their trips to the beach.

She began to slowly kick her feet back and forth as she gazed out the window. The breeze picked up and she watched as the leaves began to catch the wind and rustle. The leaves are showing their undersides, the forecast didn't call for rain this afternoon but the leaves never lie.

Mao was too busy watching outside the window she didn't notice someone running up to her until she heard a bunch of little snaps and a few big cracks. Her head spun and she was looking at the cheery face of Mitsukuni Haninozuka. She paled and looked down under her feet and there were his feet, stepping on what could only be clips, jewelry and more than likely both of the headbands she had brought. She looked back up at him and then up at Mori who was by his side.

"Good morning Mao-chan! Oh did I step in something?" He asked looking down at his feet over the head of his bunny.

Mao stood up abruptly, much to the surprise of the two boys in front of her, and flopped to her knees and was desperately trying to unzip the dress bag. Mori picked Hunny up off the bag and Mao dragged it into her lap, reaching her hands in and pulling out the ziplock bag of accessories. She feels her heart drop as she looks at the crushed clips and earrings. She looks up and then back down at the bag.

If she was going to be anywhere near ready for the shoot this afternoon she'd need to leave now and go to Harajuku and pick up new accessories. This was frustrating, she brought her clothes to school all the time and this had never happened. She felt like crying.

She reached over to her school bag and got her phone to text Suzy and let her know. She sighed, and looked up at the two boys who were still standing there.

"I have to go, please excuse me. " she said getting up and dialing the number for her driver. She asked him to come get her and bring her to Harajuku. She had to wait a while, but she was so anxious that she wanted to wait out front so she could leave as soon as possible.

"Were those important?" Hunny asked looking curiously at the mashed jewelry and clips.

"Yes they were, they were some of my favorite accessories from my collection. I was going to use them in a photoshoot today." She says softly and packing her things back in her school bag and zipping up her dress bag.

"Oh no! So I ruined your favorite cute things that you were planning on using?" He asked tearing up.

"Yeah. I have to go now." She says feeling the guilt like she made him cry. She just wanted to leave as fast as possible and not look back.

"I'm sorry Mao-chan!" He cries

She looks at him and clenches and unclenches her fist at her side and shuffles her feet. Big fat tears start to roll down Hunny's cheeks and Mao feels guilt well up inside her.

"It's alright, I'm leaving now to get new ones. Don't worry about it." She says and hesitantly reaches out and pats him on the head. She does this all the time with her siblings, since she's the oldest she looks out for her younger brothers and sister. Seeing Hunny cry reminded her of all the fights her siblings had and all the skimmed knees. She didn't want to be the cause of his tears.

His hair is soft and light underneath her fingers, as she messes up his hair lightly. She marvels at how well kept it is.

"There, there, it'll be alright." She says softly and pats him one last time.

Hunny looked up at Mao as she patted him and began to smile as the tears stopped. Suddenly her movements were being mirrored by Mori who had been standing and watching the entire time. She felt his hand land on her head softly as he patted both her and Hunnys head. She looks up at him wide eyed for a minute then looks down and fiddles with her hands.

They stand there for a minute as people filter into the room. Mao can feel the people staring and she moved away from Mori's touch. She bows to them and picks up her things and flees the room, heading for the front of the school.

Later that day Mao gets a call from Suzy, saying that school ended and that she was ready to be picked up. So Mao, now in casual clothing goes to school and picks up Suzuka. She leaves the comfort of her bed where she had tea and her Nintendo 3ds and gets into the car where all her dresses were packed neatly away. She pulls on the high waisted shorts and baggy sweater she's wearing and thinks about her rushed trip to all her favorite stores earlier that day. The ride is silent until they pull up to the school where Suzy trots up to the car waving and calling out to the driver.

Mao's eyes widen in horror at the sight of the host club following close behind Suzy. She felt herself begin to shake and her palms start to sweat.

Suzy opens the door to the car and smiles brightly at Mao.

"Maorin! I missed you today." She says climbing into the car and laying her head on Mao's lap. Part of the host club filing into the car after her. As soon as Suzy said something Mao felt a million times better.

"These guys said their next theme is gonna be Lolita or visual kei related so they wanted to come to the shoot this afternoon." Suzy says smiling up at Mao obliviously.

Mao looks at the Twins, Hunny and Mori who are sitting across from her. She could only assume the rest were following behind us in their own car. She places her hand in Suzy's cropped curly hair and begins to run it through her fingers. Suzy sighs and puts her legs up on the window and they drive in silence. Mao can tell that the twins are itching to open the dress bags next to Her. She can also see that they're kind of nervous because it's so quiet, it comfortable for her but they're used to the boisterous loudness of their club.

"You can look. " Mao says quietly and the Twins jump and look at her and then back to the bags.

"They're just some dresses from Angelic Pretty and Anna House." She says quietly.

"And some kodona style clothes for Suzy if she's asked to wear it." She adds patting Suzuka lightly on the head.

The twins look at her and then eagerly move to the floor of the car to open the bags of clothes. There are at least ten dresses in the bag, with all sorts of petticoats and accessories to go along with them. They look and feel and whisper among themselves about the quality of the clothing and what would look best on who.

"So you guys like clothes?" Suzy asks flipping over to lay on her stomach. She looked at the twins and smiled. They looked at eachother confused and then back to Suzy.

"Of course we do, we're the sons of a fashion designer." Hikaru says rubbing the fabric of one of the dresses between his hands.

"Our mom is Yuzuha Hitachiin." Kaoru provided kindly.

"I have one of her bathing suits." Mao says quietly. Her bathing suit was a fifties styled black bathing suit with cherries all over it. The halter straps gave her weird tan lines but she liked the aesthetic.

"Oh?" They say in unison "from which line?" They asked leaning back on their seats while still digging through the bags on the floor.

"Be careful, I steamed them before we got in the car I don't want them wrinkled." Mao says beginning to get nervous that they were being too rough. Kaoru looked up at her and smiled kindly as he smoothed out the dress he had pulled onto his lap.

"It's from the 'Blast From the Past' clothes line she came out with two summers ago." Mao says finishing the question that had been asked earlier.

"That was a good line, we both liked the aesthetic of that line. The oldschool western look is a nice one." Kaoru says

"I tried to get into one of her swimsuits and I looked so silly!" Suzy laments. "My legs were way too long for the one I wanted and so I couldn't get it." That sparked a conversation between Hikaru and Suzy, Hunny joining in at some point and asking Suzy about going to the beach. Kaoru looked at Mao speaking.

"I like this dress a lot. Is this one you wear?" He asked holding up the dress. He was holding a baby doll waisted dress with thin black straps with a bow tying in the waist. The print is crosses and lace with chandeliers. It had a very halloweeny feel to it. Mao nodded and picked up a bag.

"Yeah and I pair it with this petticoat, this blouse and these accessories." She says softly, pulling out a large bow headband and a neck tie with an oldschool portrait pin. She pulled out a black purse shaped like a heart that went over her shoulder and she pulled out a few rings.

" I wear it with rocking horse shoes compared to a classic Mary Jane because the overall aesthetic called for a more toned down shoe. I also wear these socks and the blouse had to be more of a statement because the dress is so plain." She says holding up the blouse she mentioned.

She looks up and Kaoru is nodding like he was actually taking in the information.

"Suzy looks good in the dresses Hikaru is holding. She wears a lot of country Lolita, or sweet because her skin type fits it and she looks good in hats." Mao says. "She also wears Kodona, or 'boystyle' because she is so tall and androgynous." She pulls the third bag into her lap and pulls out the shorts she brought for Suzy, followed by the vest, boots, socks and hat.

"This is the basics of a Kodona style outfit" . She says pointing to the clothing as she explains. "Shorts are almost a must, a white or black shirt is also sort of normal. A vest is a staple piece because it gives it that 'boy' look. You can pair it with a tie or a bow. But not a bow tie." She says smoothing the shirt in her lap. "A tall boot is a preference, Suzy has long legs so a knee high boot looks good for her kodona. A black hat to top it off and you have a basic outfit." She says gently putting the outfit away.

"So, a lot of black then." Kaoru says looking at the bag.

"Yeah." Mao replies as they fall back into silence. Hikaru and Suzy are arguing over something.

"Wow you know a lot Mao-chan!" Hunny says leaning forward in his seat Mori nodding along with him.

Mao leans forward and her hair falls over her shoulders and covers her face. She hadn't realized people had started listening. Suzy looks up at her having turned back over at some point and grins impishly.

"I like fashion. " she says softly and the chatter picks back up around her. She feels eyes staring holes into the top of her head. She looks up briefly and meets Kaoru's gaze. He looks away turning to his brother and starting a conversation.

The shoot goes well, Tamaki gets really excited about the dresses, telling Haruhi that she needed to try them. At one point Haruhi was mistaken for a model and got mixed up in being dressed in Kodona style.

The club marveled at the wigs and dresses and left knowing more about the two seniors than they did before.


End file.
